As her season draws to a close, Angelique Kerber is hoping to add to her mounting title collection at next week’s WTA Finals in Singapore.
In what has been her best ever year on the tour, Kerber has won her first two grand slam titles as she overtook Serena Williams to claim the world No.1 position in September. Becoming the first German world No.1 since Steffi Graf, Kerber is still adjusting to her new accolade on the tour. Since winning the US Open, the 28-year-old has endured a somewhat disappointing Asian swing where she failed to reach the semifinals at three consecutive tournaments.
“The pressure is actually bigger… because people expect you to win every tournament,” Kerber told Reuters News in Singapore.
“Nobody has anything to lose against me. And everybody would like to beat me. The pressures are bigger than before but it’s a great situation to be in, it’s a new challenge for me and I’m happy to be there right now.”
In the wake of Serena Williams’ withdrawal from the season ending event, Kerber is guaranteed to end 2016 as the highest ranked woman in the world. It is a exceptional achievement for a player who previous year-ending ranking best was fifth in 2012. Playing in the WTA Finals for the fourth time in her career, Kerber will be bidding to progress beyond the round robin stages for the first time. Last year she lost in straight sets to Lucie Safarova.
“I learned a lot from this special moment because the pressure was really high for me last year and this year I’m handling (it) much better and this will never happen again,” she said about her previous disappointments in the event.
The achievements made this year is a stark contrast to those of 2015 for Kerber, when she failed to reach the fourth round at all four grand slam tournaments. Capitalising on Williams’ struggles on the tour, the German believes the crucial factor in her surge of form this season is due to the greater level of experience that she has.
“All the experience from the last few years came together this year. The belief in myself, I’ve grown up a little bit more this year,” Kerber said.
“The victory in Australia, of course it’s great, I continued it the last few months and I’m here now as the best player of the year… and the world actually,’ she added.
The WTA Finals will get underway on Sunday, October 23rd. Kerber is bidding to become the first German winner of the tournament since Graf in 1996.
VIDEO: Angelique Kerber training with Agnieszka Radwanska in Singapore
